Now that the USA internationals have been paid the same as their male counterparts, there will be no reason for their fans to cry out for fairness again when the Americans take on the Netherlands in the second leg of 2019 on Thursday Women’s World Cup Final.
The Americans defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in France to secure their second consecutive World Cup title and fourth overall. They were in the middle of a contractual dispute over pay with US Soccer at the time, and Players were greeted with shouts of “Equal Pay!” from the fans.
The team’s pursuit of equal pay was finally resolved last year. when a deal was negotiated that gave the women the same salary as the US men’s team and, more importantly, to evenly split the tournament prize money earned by both teams.
So the audience in Wellington doesn’t have to fight for equal treatment for Americans on Thursday. Instead, they can focus on the rematch and celebrate another win over the Dutch.
The game is the second game in Group E for both teams and both the USA and the Netherlands opened the tournament with victories.
The cup is not at stake in this game like it was in 2019 and both teams are already in a good position to advance to the knockout rounds. But the game remains important for the final group standings: the winner has an easier way to advance to the next round.
The Netherlands have won just one of their ten games against the United States, although only one of those games was at a World Cup – the 2019 final. The only Dutch win in the series came in their first meeting in 1991.
The two teams also met in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics. The Americans advanced on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
“I’m really looking forward to this game,” said striker Megan Rapinoe. “Of course we’ve seen them several times at major tournaments in recent years. Ready for a good one.
At the start of the tournament in Auckland, the USA won 3-0 over Vietnam. Sophia Smith scored two goals Captain Lindsey Horan contributed the others.
US coach Vlatko Andonovski put together a somewhat surprising line-up for the first game, moving midfielder Julie Ertz to central defense and Savannah DeMelo in midfield. She got her first start in her second appearance with the team.
Ertz returned to the team earlier this year following the birth of their son. She had not played for the United States for more than 600 days but was able to step up by playing for her club team, Angel City.
While Ertz has some experience in defense early in her international career, the recent move was prompted by the loss of captain Becky Sauerbrunn. who injured her foot and was unable to take part in the World Cup.
“Once we knew Becky wasn’t going to make it, we started looking into it even more. We spoke to Julie before attempting it and did a lot of work before we even got to camp in terms of video analytics on both sides. We helped her, but she also wanted to adapt and sign as quickly as possible,” Andonovski said.
The United States must step up its attack on the Netherlands, who defeated Portugal 1-0 in the opening round of the tournament. Stefanie van der Gragt scored in the 13th minute.
“I think if there’s one thing we need to do better besides taking chances, it’s how we can help the players who are able to take those chances and give them a little bit better service,” Andonovski said.
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